Indian Economy News

India has achieved another major sanitation milestone, as 50% of villages are now ODF Plus under Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen Phase-II

The country has achieved another major milestone under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) with half of the total villages in the country (50% of villages) achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus status under Phase-II of the Mission.

An ODF Plus village is one that has implemented solid or liquid waste management systems in addition to maintaining its ODF designation. Till date, more than 2.96 lakh villages have declared themselves ODF Plus, which is a significant step towards achieving the SBM-G Phase-II goals by 2024-25.

Telangana (100%), Karnataka (99.5%), Tamil Nadu (97.8%), and Uttar Pradesh (95.2%) among the big states, and Goa (95.3%) and Sikkim (69.2%) among the small states, are the best performers in terms of the proportion of ODF Plus villages. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Daman & Diu, and Lakshadweep are UTs with 100% ODF Plus Model villages. These States and UTs have made outstanding progress towards obtaining ODF Plus designation, and this accomplishment would not have been possible without their efforts.

Out of the 296,928 ODF Plus villages, 56,285 are ODF Plus Model villages, 208,613 are ODF Plus Aspiring villages with arrangements for either solid waste management or liquid waste management, 32,030 are ODF Plus Rising villages with arrangements for both solid waste management and liquid waste management, and the remaining 208,613 are ODF Plus Aspiring villages with arrangements for only solid waste management.

ODF Plus Model Villages are those that are maintaining their ODF status and have plans for both solid waste management and liquid waste management, observe visual cleanliness, that is, have little to no litter, little to no stagnant wastewater, and don't dump plastic waste in public areas, and display ODF Plus Information, Education & Communication (IEC) messages.

The Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen has received a total of US$ 10.24 billion (Rs. 83,938 crore) from the Central Government between 2014-15 and 2021-22.

The major components of the Phase-II of SBM (G) are Sustaining Open Defecation Free Status (ODF-S), Solid (Bio-degradable) Waste Management, Plastic Waste Management (PWM), Liquid Waste Management (LWM), Faecal Sludge Management (FSM), GOBARdhan, Information Education and Communication/Behaviour Change Communication (IEC/BCC), and Capacity Building.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.